Our customers, their families, and the communities we serve are at the heart of what we do, and our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by recent hurricanes and tropical storms. That’s why we’ve partnered with WorldVision® to support recovery and relief efforts in the weeks and months to come.

About Our Glass

We take pride in building what stands between the world and you.

Our teams of engineers work with clear purpose to provide exactly the glass type you need, with options for performance level, type of glass, and tint. Here, you’ll find explanations of these options and what they mean for your home or project.

Types of Glass

Annealed

Annealed glass will break into large shards.

Annealed glass is the result of a cooling process that glass undergoes after being produced in our factory. A piece of glass must be cut while in the annealed form, prior to undergoing additional processes such as heat-strengthening or tempering. Once a piece of glass has been heat-strengthened or tempered, it will shatter if cut.

If annealed glass is impacted, it will break into large shards.

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WinGuard® Vinyl

EnergyVue®

ClassicVue™

Heat Strengthened

Heat-strengthened glass will break into medium-sized shards.

Heat strengthened glass is annealed glass that is heated to approximately 1300°F, where it reaches its softening point. It is then cooled to create surface compression. This compression allows the glass to tolerate more rapid and uneven temperature swings.

Heat strengthened glass is approximately two times stronger than annealed glass; however, if impacted, heat-strengthened glass will break into medium-sized shards.

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Insulating

Two panes of glass to reduce heat transfer.

A special silicone glazing process helps keep insulating glass from breaking away from the frame. Insulating glass is composed of two panes of glass separated by air or other gas to reduce heat transfer.

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Laminated

Reduces glass from breaking away from the frame.

A special silicone glazing process helps keep laminated glass from breaking away from the frame. Laminated glass is composed of two pieces of glass bonded together with a strong clear interlayer. Once sealed, the glass "sandwich" behaves as a single unit and is transparent like ordinary glass.

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Architectural Systems

Laminated Insulating

Two panes of glass for strength and one pane for added insulation.

A special silicone glazing process helps keep laminated insulating glass from breaking away from the frame. Laminated insulating glass is composed of three panes of glass: two panes of glass bonded together with a strong, clear interlayer for impact resistance and one pane for added insulation. Once sealed, the glass "sandwich" behaves as a single unit and is transparent like ordinary glass.

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Tempered

More resistant to blunt impact and temperature swings.

Tempered glass is produced similarly to heat-strengthened glass: beginning as annealed glass and heated to approximately 1300°F. However, tempered glass is cooled more rapidly to create higher surface compression. This compression makes the glass more resistant to blunt impact and even more tolerant to temperature swings than heat-strengthened glass. Tempered glass is approximately four to five times stronger than annealed glass and is also known as safety glass due to its breakage pattern.

If tempered glass is impacted with enough force to break, the glass will shatter into countless small, slightly cube-shaped pieces that present less of a cutting hazard.

Performance Levels

Basic

Standard glass right for your home.

If impact-resistance and energy efficiency are not primary concerns in your window and door decision, there are still several factors that should be taken into account when considering your options. To ensure you are selecting the best product for your needs, it is helpful to understand the different elements that make up "standard glass" used by manufacturers.

Glass thickness is one important element in glass makeup, as it directly affects the amount of noise transmitted through the window pane. The most common glass thicknesses are:

Single-strength glass (SSB) is a single pane of glass 3/32” thick. Most window and door manufacturers have moved away from using this glass thickness in their products, though some manufacturers continue to use it in their lines.

Double-strength glass (DSB) is a single pane of glass 1/8” thick. This glass thickness is the minimum available in PGT products.

Plate Glass is a single pane of glass 3/16” thick. This thicker glass is an available option for most PGT windows and is standard in the majority of PGT doors.

Glass also varies in strength and breakage pattern based on how the glass is treated. The most common types of basic glass treatments include annealed, heat-strengthened, and tempered.

When researching your options for windows and doors, be aware that "standard glass" is not universal across manufacturers. Be sure to ask your dealer for details about the glass makeup in products you are considering to ensure that you are comparing similar products.

Primary Uses: Single family residential, Multi-family residential

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Energy Efficiency

Easy on energy bills, easy on the planet.

The glass you choose for your windows and doors can dramatically increase the energy efficiency of your home. We are proud to offer Insulating glass, laminated glass, and laminated insulating glass options that all contribute to decreased indoor energy usage, as well as lower heating and cooling costs.

We’ve built in multiple opportunities to achieve ENERGY STAR® ratings for energy performance so you can save even more on energy costs. These options include:

Impact Resistance

Our purpose is evident in our impact resistant glass.

These products protect your home from more than hurricane-force damage, they also guard your family against would-be intruders. The most common way to achieve impact resistance in windows and doors is to select a product that uses laminated glass or laminated insulating glass.

Our impact-resistant laminated glass and laminated insulating glass are designed to withstand repeated impact from a nine-pound 2’ x 4’ beam traveling at 34 miles per hour. Even if the glass is damaged, the interlayer will hold the glass pieces secure in the frame and continue to keep unwanted elements outside.

These glass choices combined with heavy-duty frames allow our impact-resistant products to meet or exceed the most stringent code requirements for hurricane-force winds and flying debris. In addition, our impact-resistant windows and doors exceed the 2010 Florida building code standards for impact-resistance, and many of our products hold additional certifications—including those of Miami-Dade and AAMA.

The strength of these products is all part of our clear purpose of protecting homeowners living in the fiercest hurricane-prone regions by providing continuous, effortless peace of mind.